


Between the Lines

by CoffeeAndTae



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: AU, College AU, F/M, ayahina
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-04-20 12:31:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4787366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeAndTae/pseuds/CoffeeAndTae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Looking past the tragedies in her life, Hinami Fueguchi has an open mind and a positive outlook to starting her freshman year of college. Trust is something she has a hard time bestowing upon other people; will it be any different when she makes the acquaintance of surly, easily agitated Ayato Kirishima. Ayahina college AU. They are not ghouls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Encounter

In hindsight, forgoing the extra fifteen minutes of sleep for the sake of coffee probably wasn’t the best idea. Regardless, there she stood, rubbing her eyes, waiting to be served in a long line with at least ten people in front of her. As the line dwindled – along with the rest of her patience – she realized that if she didn’t order and get her coffee within the next five minutes, she was going to be late to her very first class. What a way to kick off her freshman year. Sighing, she looked at her feet, reminding herself that getting angry over situations like that didn’t solve anything. This in mind, she found her conscience easing, and was served no less than a minute later.

“Hello,” The bright-eyed blonde behind the counter greeted her, complete with a wide, toothy smile and a glowing look about her. “What can I get for you?”

Hinami didn’t understand how she could be so peppy at eight in the morning, but rather than be annoyed, she admired her. She’d stayed up for most of the night worrying about this very day, and she was certainly paying for it now.

“Um, yes, can I just get one large, regular black coffee?” She asked, clearing her throat a little when she realized how raspy she sounded.

“Certainly!” The girl chirped, punching in the numbers for the price accordingly and holding her hand out for the money.

Hinami blinked for a moment, processing the situation for a moment, only to realize that paying was a thing. Right. She dug inside her pocket for a moment and fished out three crumpled, sad looking bills and handed them to the woman, who to her credit, didn’t seem to mind the slight delay. Hinami waved off the return of the change – a measly quarter – and shuffled over to the counter to wait on her coffee. It didn’t take long. Hinami wasn’t one for the sugary, dressed up drinks. While she was an avid coffee drinker, probably more so than what was considered healthy, the extra sugar just didn’t do it for her. She was roughly eighty percent blood and twenty percent caffeine, as she often liked to joke with her friends. 

Her friends. Her heart gave a jerk in her chest and her eyes began to burn with the nascent forms of tears. No. No crying. She was over that. She’d done so well up until now. She hadn’t even cried the night before, in spite of how anxious she was feeling. She blinked furiously, ridding her eyes of the salted, traitorous liquid and offered the person who handed her the piping hot coffee a smile, which went unreturned. 

Just as she was turning to leave for her first class, she was met with resistance, and soon, her entire shirt was saturated with the searing brown liquid. The paper cup she’d held nestled so tightly in her hands fell to the ground, along with whatever remaining contents splashed inside. She cried out in pain, tears pinpricking her eyes as the heat of the coffee tinged her chest a bright red.

“God fucking dammit,” a voice grunted, and when Hinami looked up, she was met with a pair of icy, dark eyes. “Do you even look before you walk?”

It was obvious the man was agitated. He looked to be not much older than her, and from what she could gather, he was in just as much of a rush as she was.

“I’m – I’m sorry, I was just turning to leave –“ She rushed out, even though it wasn’t entirely her fault to begin with.

“Whatever,” He huffed, then trailed his gaze from her eyes to her shirt. “Oh, shit –“

Hinami followed his eyes to the front of her shirt and sighed. Right. He had momentarily distracted her from the burning sensation on her front. Of course this would happen. It was just her luck, after all. She set her book bag in a vacant chair, and plucked a few napkins from a nearby dispenser to sop up as much of the coffee as she could. The man whom she’d so gracefully collided into stood there, looking as if he were uncertain as to what to do.

“Sorry about your shirt.” He said awkwardly, his tone clipped, but much kinder than before.

She turned to him and managed to give him a serene, calm smile. He seemed taken aback, mostly because that smile reached her eyes, even though she was covered in coffee that was more expensive than it was worth and probably running late to her first class.

“It’s not a big deal, it wasn’t that great of a shirt to begin with. I’m sorry for not looking where I was going.”

The man seemed to be a little confused, avoiding her eyes and reaching up to run his hand through his already messy hair. Hinami cocked her head to the side, hand stilling as she tried to wipe the remnants of the coffee from her shirt.

“Are you – er, late for class?” She inquired, worried that she was making him even later. 

“Oh, right – just fuckin' – getting coffee.” 

He gestured to the bar, where the barista had set a smaller cup of coffee down. He nabbed the coffee, then turned back to her as if he had something to say. His mouth closed just as it opened, and he shook his head when he thought she wasn’t looking.

“See you around.” He muttered, not sparing her so much as a second glance as he stalked off, his pace brisk and stiff. 

Fleeting thoughts of where he was headed flooded her mind, but they were only that – fleeting. Her shirt and her class took more precedence at the moment, and she figured one apology would suffice, seeing as she was the one who took most of the brunt from the unfortunate collision. She tried to push the awkward encounter from her mind and focused on cleaning up the mess. She mirthfully tossed the soaked napkins and empty cup she’d wasted three dollars on in the trash can, then checked her watch. She drew a few giggles from a table of people as she squeaked, realizing she wasn’t going to make it on time, and practically sprinted out of the coffee shop, her sneakers making absurd noises as they slid across the tile. 

Panting, she reached her first class – college algebra - which was luckily only a short walk from the coffee shop. The door was open, and the professor seemed to be running a little late, too. She sighed in relief and tried to scout out an empty table, scanning the rows. Most of them were full, but to her delight, there was a table up front with a free seat. Not wanting to still be up when the professor arrived, she made a beeline for the vacant chair and shoved her book bag underneath the table. A buzz of chatter filled the room, and the noise made her more comfortable than a roomful of silence would have. Though she wasn’t the type of person to initiate conversation with just anyone, she found the talking, even if other people were doing it, put her at ease. As she was checking the door for the professor, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She jolted, a little frightened at the sudden foreign touch, but looked around to stare into those same eyes from the coffee shop.

“Any luck with the shirt?”

She blinked, searching her mind for a good response, and somewhat relieved to see a sort of familiar face. She wasn’t often approached and didn’t have to come up with small talk on the fly, so she wasn’t exactly equipped for that. She simply shook her head, tugging the shirt out to show him the large stain.

“Hey, I’m Ayato.” He began, rubbing his forearm awkwardly. “- and I didn’t mean to get so pissed off earlier.”

She beamed.

“No worries, really. It could happen to anyone! We both made it on time, anyways. I’m Hinami, by the way.”

He nodded, and looked as if he had something else to say, but like before, shut his mouth. Just as she was about to ask what his major was, a loud, knocking sound came from the front of the room, and the professor stumbled in, balancing a stack of papers in one hand and a travel mug of coffee in the other.

“Welcome to Algebra, I’m your professor, you can call me Koma, yes I’m late, and yes this may happen from time to time.” He said in a lazy voice, setting the contents in his arms on the desk. “We’ll spend today going over the syllabus, make sure to have your required text by Wednesday, and always keep blank test sheets on you, because I do have pop quizzes.” He paused, surveyed the class, and cocked an eyebrow. “Any questions?”

Hinami heard Ayato scoff behind her, and she swore she could picture the eye roll that most likely accompanied it. Koma passed out the syllabus to the front rows, instructing them to past them back to the rest of the class. Hinami turned in her seat to hand the stack to Ayato, whose fingertips brushed against hers for a brief moment. She smiled at him again, unable to help herself, and she caught sight of a red tinge that dusted his cheeks before he turned around, himself. Maybe, just maybe, she’d ask him for a cup of coffee after class to properly apologize for running into him earlier.


	2. Apologies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all, I am back with an update! I'll be updating this story once to twice a week, depending on the amount of time I have. If anything, expect updates every Friday. Thank you for reading!

What was it about her? That ludicrously happy smile she’d beamed at him had been ingrained in his mind since eight o’clock this morning. So much so, that he could hardly concentrate on what Koma was saying. Not that he really cared that much, anyways. Why did an art major need a math credit? He thought he was done with this bullshit. Ayato had been idly scratching his pen across the blank notebook he picked up not five minutes before the coffee spill, looking up to gaze at the back of her head every so often.

Hinami. It was a nice name. Why? Why was he so fixated on the fact that she smiled at him? He’d been so used to people hardly casting so much as a glance in his direction, never mind a complete stranger he’d just spilled boiling hot coffee on. He bit his lip, revisiting the moment and wishing he’d taken the extra step to not snap at her out of nowhere.

Class passed on, and even though it was only fifty minutes long, it still felt like forever. He hadn’t expected it to be particularly interesting; he just wanted to get his credit and get out. As Koma dismissed them, reminding them again to get their textbooks and test sheets, Ayato stood, not really thinking of what he was going to say to her. He caught her just as she was walking out the door, and rather than politely announce himself, he grabbed onto her shoulder. Bad move. She gave a jolt and whipped around, her large, brown eyes wide and full of panic. She did look a little relieved when she saw it was just him.

“Oh, hello. Did you need something?” She asked kindly, somehow composing her face and curling her lips into a smile yet again.

“Uh –“ 

“Pure poetry, utterly astounding the wit you possess.” He thought to himself, fighting off a grimace.

Hinami was patient, so she didn’t look too peeved that he seemed to be at a loss for words.

“Yeah, uh – about this morning –“

“It’s fine, really,” She interrupted, waving him off. “It was an accident.”

“Yeah, but it was really my fault. I didn’t mean to get pissed, I was just running late and I’m an asshole if I don’t have at least one cup of coffee in my system, especially in the morning.”

“I know what you mean, I’m the same way.”

Same way, seriously? She didn’t look like she could be rude if she tried. 

“Well, look, I have some time before my next class, and if you aren’t too busy, I want to buy you a coffee. Y’know, since yours got … uh… spilled.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, really, I was actually going to ask you –“

“I want to.” He insists, flicking his gaze to her eyes rather than training his own on the floor.

“Well, my next class isn’t until eleven, so I guess that would be alright. But really, I don’t mind the whole thing, it was just a misunderstanding.”

It wasn’t a misunderstanding, he literally plowed into her without looking. Rather than state this, he jerks his head to the direction of the door and secures his bag so that it’s hanging higher on his arm than before. 

“Let’s go.”

 

~

 

As Ayato stands by, waiting for both of their coffees to come out, he grinds his teeth. He usually avoided talking to people at all costs, even since high school. He just didn’t have the time to deal with annoyances, so why go out of his way to talk to people he knows are just going to end up being more trouble than they’re worth? He wasn’t exactly famed for being nice, nor did he pretend to hide behind any façade to back that up, but for some reason, he felt guilty. It wasn’t the collision that made him feel that way, he ran into people all the time. It was just that she seemed so… happy. Even with her shirt stained a nasty brown, and at least a first degree burn, she looked at him with a smile that reached her eyes. That was what made him feel guilty.

When the coffee came out, he took them and held them securely. He didn’t need any more incidents. As he reached the table he left her at, he noticed she was leafing through a book he didn’t see her have before. She didn’t even notice he was there until he put her coffee in front of her.

“Black, right?”

She twitched a little, shaken from her concentration. He made a note to not do that again, she seemed to startle fairly easy.

“Y-yeah,” she stammers, flushing a little.

He nods once and sits in the chair across from her, removing the lid from his coffee to pour sugar into it. After a few generous packets of the stuff, he looked up and realized she wasn’t doing anything to hers. He cocked an eyebrow, lip curling up in disgust.

“You don’t even put sugar in it? You just drink it black?”

“It’s – It’s a little strange, I know. I’ve been told that. I guess I just prefer how it tastes without anything. I’m not really a fan of things when they’re too sweet.”

She looked a little scandalized when she realized the amount of sugar packets littering their table.

“Wha – How? How do you drink that?”

“You defend yours, I’ll defend mine.” He answered, taking a sip of the liquid, which at that point, was more syrup than coffee.

“Fair enough.”

They stayed silent for a moment, neither of them entirely sure of what to say to the other. Ayato just wasn’t good at this kind of thing, nor did he think he ever would be. He was honestly a little still hazy on what possessed him to offer her coffee in the first place. He sipped his coffee slowly, ignoring the searing pain that coated his tongue, and tried to come up with something. He felt a need to talk to her, and he didn’t know why, but he wanted to know a little more about her. That was strange. He didn’t really care to know anything about other people. It was a waste of time.

“What were you reading?” 

Safe question. It didn’t pry too much, and it was something people made small talk about. Right? 

“Oh,” She said, a little taken aback by the question, but brightening up a little bit. “I’m reading a book about life in the medieval times.” 

She abandoned her coffee to pluck the book from her bag and held it up for him. A gallant looking knight bounded across the cover, accompanied by a few choice words including, 'festering', 'disease' and 'bubonic'.

“What, are you a history major or something?”

“No, I’m actually a literature major. I just like reading about different kinds of things. That’s what I like about books, I get to broaden my horizons. I don’t need a time machine or anything, because the book itself is one!”

He must have looked a little strange to her, because she quickly added,

“Oh, that was weird – er – what I mean is that I just like to learn about things. I do prefer fiction to other books, though – I’m rambling…”

She trailed off at the end, looking a little like she was embarrassed.

“No, that’s – I guess I’m just not much of a reader.” He replied quickly.

“Well, to each their own. What – What exactly are you majoring in?”

He took another piping sip of his coffee and swallowed, a little hesitant to answer.

“I’m an art major.”

She beamed.

“That’s awesome! I love art. I’ve never been very good at it, but I do like to look at it. You don’t seem like much of an art major – I would have pegged you for majoring in something more –“

“Boring?” He interjected, smirking a little.

“No, not exactly boring, you just don’t seem like the type is all.”

“It probably would have been better if I wasn’t, honestly. It’s kind of a joke to the people that know me. You can’t really do shit with an art degree, but it’s the only thing I’m really good at, so.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. Literature isn’t exactly something that will do much for me, but I like it. As long as I’m happy, I’m okay.”

“That’s an awfully optimistic outlook to have.”

She took her coffee in her hands, holding it as if she were consoling it. She looked down at the top of the cup and smiled a little sadly.

“Pessimistic isn’t something I can afford to be.”

He was afraid he’d said something to upset her, but she looked back up at him again, eyes dancing.

“Besides, isn’t it more fun to think happier thoughts? Being upset or angry about things for no reason doesn’t really do any good. It usually just makes things worse. I don’t know, I guess I just try to look for silver linings.”

He avoided her eyes and brought his cup to his lips, not really drinking anything. He was a little surprised at how easily he was talking to her. Conversation was something of a chore for him, and half the time, he wasn’t really paying attention to what the other person was saying. People just pissed him off, that’s how it always had been. Though she was infuriatingly happy – something he usually despised – it was a nice change of pace to talk to someone like that.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?” He asked, snapping out of his little trance.

“Thank you. For the coffee, I mean. You really didn’t have to do it.”

“Please, it’s the least I could do. I ruined your shirt, wasted the money you spent on the coffee, and probably gave you third degree burns or some shit. Speaking of which, does it hurt?”

She looked down at her shirt, plucking a bit of it to pull away from her chest so she could inspect the burn.

“No, it doesn’t hurt. And it’s not really that bad. It was only for a second. It should be fine now.”

“And the shirt?”

“Like I said this morning, it wasn’t that great of a shirt to begin with. Really, it’s not a big deal. The coffee more than makes up for it. It’s not like it was entirely your fault.”

“Well, I’ll… make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He said somewhat awkwardly, picking up his cup to drain it of the contents. “I have to get going, my next class starts in fifteen minutes, but I guess… I’ll see you around?”

He almost sounded hopeful, and he internally punched himself in the face.

“Oh, sure, of course! We have class on Wednesday, anyways, so if not before then…”

Ayato stood, pulled his bag over his shoulder, and started to leave. As Hinami was putting her things back into her bag, he turned again and said,

“Uh, so, could I maybe get your number? You know, in case of… algebra issues.”

God, did he always sound that fucking stupid?

“Totally! Here –“

She put his number into his phone, and he shot her a quick text so that she had his, as well.

“Well, I’ll see you around.”

“It was really nice meeting you, Ayato.”

His stomach dropped at the way she said his name.

“Y-Yeah, you too.”


	3. Notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Sorry I didn't update on Friday, I was doing stuff for my mom's birthday. I plan on updating this once a week, though! Always on Fridays.

The next day passed by in a blur. Hinami, though optimistic about the year, soon came to discover that if the syllabus curriculum for each class was as strenuous as promised, it was going to get very difficult very soon. She thanked her lucky stars that it was only the first week, and none of her professors saw a reason to assign homework on the first days. 

Come Wednesday, she was fully rested, bright-eyed, and excited. She didn’t exactly enjoy math – rather, she despised it with every fiber of her being – but she knew she’d see Ayato there. She’d been coming up with ways to ask him to sit with her in her mind, and though all of them sounded dumb, especially because she was practicing it, she didn’t think he’d mind that much. They had fun the other day when he asked her for coffee, at least she thought the feeling was mutual. Hinami was usually really good at reading people, it was just something she’d been able to do accurately since she was young. He seemed off-putting at first, and though she still thought he was something akin to Oscar the Grouch, she didn’t think he disliked her. She didn’t dislike him, either.

She was a little surprised at how quickly they’d hit it off, or at least been able to carry a somewhat intelligent conversation. Even though she considered a fairly smart person, she had a lot of trouble talking to other people, and that was especially the case for people she hardly knew.

Mind full of questions she wanted to ask him, Hinami gathered her books and shoved them into her bag to set off for class, deciding it was best to forgo the coffee for the time being. She made it there with plenty of time to spare, and unlike the last time, there were rows and rows of empty seats. She was one of the first people in the room, and she had about ten minutes before class started, so she decided it was a good time to get some reading done. (Nothing required of course, but she still liked to read at least three chapters of a book a day.)

Slowly, the classroom filled up, and in comparison to the initial dead silence, a chatter filled the room. She looked up, biting her lip, to see if Ayato had come in without her noticing. No such luck. Two minutes before the set time for class to begin, Professor Koma came rushing into the room, carrying the same travel coffee mug she saw him have on Monday. Her mind was temporarily robbed of thoughts of Ayato arriving, longing for the coffee she skipped. Maybe she could swing by the shop after class….

“Okay, get your notebooks out and pay attention, because we have a lot of material to cover and I am not going to repeat myself,” Koma said, clacking furiously on his computer to bring up a powerpoint. “This is going to be on your next quiz, which, surprise, is on Friday.”

He was answered with a resounding loud groan, which he ignored. The slide came up, and after one last glance at the door, Hinami sighed and set to copying down the notes. 

~

Ayato didn’t appear at all during class, and Hinami was a little worried he’d dropped it. He didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about it in the first place, but she didn’t think it was enough to stop taking it. It was required, after all, wasn’t he just trying to get it over with? Her hand itched to take her phone and send a text to him, but she didn’t want to be a bother. Somewhat dejected, she walked to the coffee shop, fighting off a groan when she realized how long the line was. She could hardly complain, though. She was just as desperate for coffee as the rest of them were, and she was in no position to be a hypocrite. She waited it out, and as she got closer to the counter, her desire to text Ayato only grew. He did miss an important day, and there were a lot of notes he wouldn’t have. She was more concerned about him failing their first test than anything, and she did have all the notes copied to a tee. Ignoring the gnawing doubts inside of her, she pulled her phone out and tapped out a quick,

“Missed you in class, do you want the notes?”

She then quickly deleted the entire text before she could send it. She didn’t want to sound strange to him. Could that text even be considered strange? Would he not want her to text him? Why would he give her his number if he didn’t want her to text him? Why – 

All these thoughts popped around in her mind, going back and forth like a pinball machine. She hardly heard the person ask her for her order, and she had to be nudged by the impatient brunette behind her to even answer. She shoved her phone back into her pocket and muttered her order with a red face. The coffee came out quickly, and after she mulled it over, she decided to text him.

To : Ayato Kirishima  
You missed some important stuff in class today, I just thought I would check up on you to see if you wanted the notes.

Swallowing her insecurities, she sent the text and waited. Halfway through her third sip of coffee, her phone buzzed.

Ayato Kirishima : 9:47 AM  
Yeah i have a killer hangover. would you mind bringing them to my apartment?

His first hangover of freshman year. She was almost impressed he’d managed to get to that step so quickly. She told him she had no problem doing it and asked him for the address, which he sent a minute after her text. She chewed on her lip, wondering if she should respond to it, and decided that it would be best to give him a time frame.

To : Ayato Kirishima  
I have class until three, but I can bring them by after then. Drink plenty of water!

She sent the text and worked on finishing the rest of her coffee, working on organizing her thoughts so she wouldn’t make herself to nervous. She never had been to a boy’s apartment before, let alone without other ‘supervision’. She was still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that she was a full-grown woman who could do that sort of thing. It all just seemed really grown up to her, and that was one thing she couldn’t completely come to terms with.

~

Just as she’d feared, the syllabus workload turned out to be entire true. Both of her next classes assigned a hefty amount of work. Her history class professor thought it would be a good idea to give the class an entire chunk of pages to mull over by Thursday, and her Literature professor wasted no time in starting on the list of books they would have to read during the course. Hinami didn’t really mind either of those things, because she did love reading, but it was such a small time frame to get it done in. Worried she wouldn’t be able to finish it, she decided to take her mind off of it with another cup of coffee. She would have feared the jitters that came with the crave of caffeine, but she was so used to it by that point that it hardly affected her. She sat down on a bench to get a little bit of a rest before she went over to Ayato’s apartment, and sent him a text.

To : Ayato Kirishima  
I’m done with class, now. If you don’t have anything planned, is it alright if I bring the notes by now?

He seemed to be a quick texter, because he replied not thirty seconds later.

Ayato Kirishima : 3:16 PM  
thats fine. Thanks for this by the way

Her throat tightened a little, and her heart seemed to beat just a little bit faster, but she chalked it up to the coffee. She’d realized earlier that the apartments he lived in weren’t too far from the campus, so it wouldn’t be that long of a walk. She was glad he lived so close, but she told herself not to get used to the idea of seeing him outside of class.

It’s just a note thing.  
It’s just a note thing.  
It’s only for class.  
It’s not going to happen again.

She repeated that over and over in her mind as she walked to his apartment, but still, she couldn’t shake the idea of getting to hang out with him and getting to know him. She found his door, knocked lightly a few times, and was a little startled when he answered it. She took him in, fighting off a little laugh at how silly he looked. His hair, though unruly to begin with, hung in his eyes, obscuring them. It stuck up in other directions, and it was obvious he had been sleeping all day. His clothes hung from his body, and he was missing a sock. His face, while still handsome, was pale, and was sporting rather nasty dark circles underneath his eyes. “Vodka.” He said, and it was all the explanation she needed.

He ushered her inside, pointing to the initial direction of the couch. His apartment was pretty mediocre, only the basics, but she understood. She couldn’t even afford to live in a place like his, so it was dorm life for her. She secretly envied him. Though it wasn’t large or particularly spectacular, he did have a television, a seemingly fully functional kitchen, and a fireplace. That was the part she liked the most, and she entertained the thought of curling up with a book next to it, listening to the crackling of the wood as the weather got colder. She shook her head as if to pull herself from the little daydream, and turned to look at him instead.

“Are you… okay?” She asked, making sure to keep her voice low.

He plopped down next to her and ran his hands through his hair.

“Head’s fuckin’ killing me. What’d I miss in class?”

“Oh, right, here – “

She scrambled to open her bag and pulled out the binder she used for math class. It wasn’t hard to find the notes, because it was only the first day they took them, so she unclipped them and handed them to him.  
“You’re a goddamn life saver. Thank you.” He said, offering her a small, barely there smile.

“Oh, it’s no problem. I know I’d want the same if I was… sick.”

He laughed at that, and for a moment, he looked amused.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing, I was just trying to picture you hungover. Somehow, it’s impossible.”

She got a little flustered, and she wasn’t entirely sure why, so she turned her back to him to close the bag.

“Anyways, there they are. If you have any questions you can –“

 

“Why don’t you hang out for a while?” He interrupted, putting a hand on her thigh to stop her from getting up. 

She felt her heart thud in her chest a little harder.

“Oh, but – I mean, are you sure? Don’t you not feel well?”

“Eh, I’ll be fine. I’ve been sleeping it off for most of the day, and besides, I need food. How about we order a pizza or something? I’ve been a little bored out of my mind staying in this damn apartment all day long.”

“Oh… well, I guess – I –“

“It’s just pizza, and besides, you did come all the way here just to drop off notes.”

“It was a short walk, and I really don’t mind –“

“Stay for pizza. Please? It’ll be a thank you.”

She smiled a little.

“Okay, pizza sounds good, but at least let me pay for half of it.”

He snorted.

“Out of the question. There are some sodas in the fridge. I’m going to go order the pizza, and you can pick out a movie or something over there.”

He pointed to the right side of the television, where a respectable amount of DVDs lay stacked.

“Pepperoni?”

“That’s… perfect.”


	4. PIzza

After the pizza had been paid for, Ayato walked over to Hinami, who was waffling between two movies they could watch.

“What did you decide?” He asked, crouching next to her.

He was a little closer to her than she anticipated, and a light flush dusted her cheeks as she held up the options – a zombie film she was familiar with and a comedy she’d never seen before. Ayato plucked them from her hands and studied the covers, furrowing his brow.

“Both of these are pretty good, but what are you in the mood for? I’ve seen both of them a thousand times.”

“I’m not sure, I do like the zombie one – I saw that when it was in theaters with a few of my friends, but – OH!”

Ayato jolted a little bit, startled at the sudden noise as Hinami’s hand flew past him to the stack of DVDs. As he was about to ask her what she saw, she produced a brightly colored case with a wide grin stretching across her face.

“Oh, fuck, I forgot I had that.”

In Hinami’s hands was a rather dusty copy of the Lion King, a film she loved more than life itself. 

“Can we? Please?” 

Ayato turned his gaze from her face to the floor, feeling his cheeks heat up at how cute she looked. She was so excited, and over a simple movie. Though he hardly knew her, he’d already decided she was easy to please. It seemed like the simplest thing could make her smile for hours.

“Why not? I need a good laugh, anyways.”

He popped the case open and stuck the disc into the DVD player. As it whirred, he stood, reached out his hand for her to grab onto, and pulled her up. Hinami went even redder than before at the skin to skin contact.

“Th-thanks,” She muttered, avoiding his eyes.

“No problem. Okay, so Disney and pizza?”

“S-Sounds good.”

Ayato brought the piping hot, greasy box over, juggling two sodas in his right hand. He set the box down on his worn out, distressed coffee table and flung it open.

“Now we feast.”

The opening scene rolled on to the television, complete with the Swahili vocals that Ayato tried to replicate. Hinami laughed, unable to help herself as Ayato screwed up his face, singing loudly at the top of his lungs.

“I – I don’t think those are the words,” She gasped, holding her sides.

“What are you talking about, I’m fluent in the Lion King,” He replied, then quickly sang out a garbled, broken rendition of the music.

He flicked his eyes to her, a little embarrassed at his outburst, but Hinami held up a finger, cleared her throat, and to a tee sang,

“IT’S THE CIIIIIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!”

For the first time that day, hell, the first time in weeks, Ayato dissolved into laughter. His head was killing him from the hangover, but it was all worth it as he listened to her sing the English in the song, hitting every note perfectly.

“How many times have you seen this movie?” He asked once he caught his breath.

She shot him a serious look.

“I don’t mess around when it comes to the Lion King.”

She grabbed a piece of pizza and chewed on the end of it, wincing at the slight pain from the heat.

“It’s a shame, I should have brought more Disney movies. We could have had a marathon.” He said as casually as he could, cracking open his soda before taking a long gulp.

Hinami’s heart thudded in her chest at the thought of it. It wasn’t so much the Disney aspect of the idea that had her heart racing, though that was enough to get her excited. She didn’t understand why it was so easy to spend time with him. She eyed him as he drained his soda, biting her lip. He was a very handsome person, there was no denying it. Even in the state of hangover from hell, he managed to pull it off. The bags under his eyes failed to take away from the piercing blue, and though he looked as if he’d just rolled out of bed, it worked for him. Someone that attractive… why was he bothering with her? 

Hinami never had been the most confident person. While she accepted herself and was okay with how she looked, it was a mystery to her that he managed to find her interesting. Maybe he didn’t even find her interesting, but he still seemed to thoroughly enjoy talking to her. He’d practically insisted upon the pizza, and though Hinami thought about turning him down, he still managed to get her to stay. It was strange. He was a boy. She was alone with him in his apartment. She was nervous, to say the least. Though his intentions seemed to be nothing but pure, and she didn’t even know if he was interested in her like that, it still set her on edge.

“You okay?” He asked, raising his eyebrow and forgoing the bite of pizza he was going to take as he realized how pale she looked.

“F-Fine! Just thinking about that test on Friday.” She replied smoothly, finishing off her own slice.

Ayato rolled his eyes.

“Such bullshit. It’s the first week and that bastard’s already giving us a test. Of course he would give out the notes the day I’m hungover.”

“Oh, yeah, how much did you manage to drink?”

Ayato winced.

“I lost count after four shots.”

Hinami didn’t know that much about drinking, but that definitely sounded like more than enough to her.

“Any particular reason for the alcohol? I – I don’t mean to pry or anything –“

“Friends. There was a little… get together at my apartment. Things got a little out of hand.”

“Oh… I see. Friends? Who?”

Ayato took another bite of his pizza, chewing it quickly so he could answer her.

“Just some guys I met the first day. I don’t really know anyone here, but it was an excuse to drink, so.”

“Do you … Do you drink often?”

He laughed.

“Not all the time, I’m not a fucking alcoholic. I guess it was just more of a social crutch than anything. I’m not good at talking to people I hardly know. Alcohol makes that easier. Though, I probably should have stopped when I felt the room spinning.”

She giggled, and the sound did something funny to Ayato’s chest.

“I’m the same way. I don’t really like talking to people I don’t know very well.”

Ayato wiped his mouth and put his plate on the coffee table, ignoring the movie as he turned to her.

“That may be so, but I doubt you drink to make the process easier.”

She shook her head.

“I’ve actually never had anything remotely alcoholic in my life.”

“Like… never?”

“Nope.”

He put his feet on the coffee table and leaned back, folding his arms behind his head.

“Be careful at parties, then. You’re really fucking small, so I don’t think it’d take too much to knock you on your ass.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem, I’m not really the party type.”

He grinned.

“Never say never, though. Maybe one night I’ll get something for you, and we can drink here, just you and me. If you want, that is.”

Hinami fisted her hands into her lap, trying to ignore how clammy they’d become.

“M-Maybe… I don’t want to be a bother, or anything.”

A small, barely-there smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“If you were a bother, I wouldn’t be sitting through this movie with you, and I wouldn’t have asked you to stay for pizza. You’re pretty interesting, it’s weird.”

“I-interesting?”

He nodded, chewing on his lip as he was thinking of what to say.

“I don’t know. Like I said, I’m not much for talking to people I don’t know. I try to avoid that kind of thing. I’m kind of an asshole, so I guess people just know to not talk to me. But you – It’s just easy to talk to you. I don’t know why, but it is. I like that. It’s nice.”

Hinami beamed, eyes lighting up as she smiled. He took another drink so he wouldn’t embarrass himself by blushing in front of her.

 

“Same goes for you. I thought you didn’t like me at first.”

“Well, I didn’t. But that’s because it was eight in the morning, I hadn’t had coffee, and I was already running late, so it wasn’t entirely your fault.”

“Still, I’m glad I ran into you. Figuratively and literally.” She said, still smiling.

"Fucking literature majors, man." He replied, nudging her arm playfully.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, enjoying the movie. Ayato swore he could see her scooting closer to him, and she was almost touching his shoulder after putting her plate down and sitting back on the couch. He thought about putting his arm around her, but struck that idea from his mind as soon as it was conceived. It was too fast. She looked like the type to scare easily, and he was more than willing to bet she wasn’t experienced in the romantic aspect of life. Neither was he, really. He wasn’t a saint, by any means, but he still wasn’t sure how to navigate those treacherous waters. He wasn’t even sure about his feelings for her. He just knew that he liked being around her, and that was pretty rare already. When the movie was over, Ayato stood up, stretching, and took their plates to throw them away.

“Oh, no, I can –“ She tried to stand up to help, but he waved her off.

“It’s fine. Did you get enough to eat?”

Considering the both of them had managed to demolish the pizza in less than an hour, it was a pretty dumb thing to ask, but she still smiled and nodded. With a quick glance at the clock, she realized it was getting a little late.

“Oh, I should be going, I’ll leave you alone to –“

“You don’t have to go, you know.” He said, returning to the couch. “I do have more movies, and –“

“I have homework, I’m sorry.” She looked apologetic, and he believed she was truly, genuinely sorry.

The thought made him swallow thickly.

“Right – I should probably get to working on these notes, anyways.”

As he was about to get a notebook, he felt the warmth of her hand on his arm.

“Ayato?”

“Y-yeah?”

“We should… We should do this again sometime. I have some movies of my own, and if you want, we could go to my dorm, even though there isn’t any room and –“ She realized she was babbling - a nervous habit- , and released his arm, dropping it like it was a white-hot wire.

“I’d like that.” He interrupted before she could apologize. “A lot.”

That seemingly permanent grin resurfaced, and Ayato’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of it. He coughed to cover up the little slip-up. As she stood, he got her bag for her and secured it around her shoulder.

“Wait, how far away do you live?”

“Oh, just over there, East Dorms.” 

“I think I should walk you back.”

“No, you don’t have to go to the trouble –“

“I will walk you back. It’s a little late, and there are a lot of fucking weirdos around her. Trust me, I’ve seen them. It’s a lot safer to go back in pairs.”

“But you’re not feeling well…” She said uncertainly, shifting her feet.

“I’m fine. Trust me. Please?”

“O-Okay, if you insist.”

Ayato grabbed his keys from the counter, opened the door for her, and they were off. The walk back was relatively silent, but neither of them minded too much. It was comfortable, and since the walk was so short, there wasn’t much of a reason to delve into a deeper conversation. He dropped her off at the front of her dorms.

“I’ll … I guess I’ll see you on Friday,” He said awkwardly, looking at his feet.

“You certainly will. Text me if there’s something you can’t figure out, okay?”

“Gotcha.”

"Text me when you get back so I know you made it home okay," She rushed out, her protective instinct getting the better of her.

He promised her, and she swore she could see that hint of a smile. She waved at him, pulled her bag around her shoulder, and walked inside. She noticed that he waited until she was in before he walked off, and the sight made her throat tighten. When she got to her room, she took out her phone to check the time, and realized she had a new text.

From Ayato Kirishima 8:14 PM

Thank you.


	5. Coffee

On his walk back to his apartment after dropping Hinami off, Ayato found himself checking his phone more often than normal. She hadn’t texted him, but she was probably waiting for him to tell her that he’d gotten home safely. She seemed genuinely concerned about him. She was so cute, he was going to have cavities. When he reached his front door, he pulled out his phone to text her before he was even inside.

To Hinami Fueguchi, 8:32 PM  
Made it back. 

Once he’d wrestled with the door – it stuck in the hinges, sometimes – he turned on his lights and threw his keys on the counter. His head, though a lot better, still throbbed, so he decided to kill the pain with some medicine he had stashed away in his medicine cabinet. As he downed the pills, his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

From Hinami Fueguchi, 8:35 PM  
Good! How are you feeling?

He smiled.

To Hinami Fueguchi, 8:36 PM  
Like shit. How much homework do you have to do?

He tossed back a cup of water as he waited, thoughts of the notes he needed to go over looming in the back of his mind. He really wished she would have stayed. The thought of that made him grimace. He usually hated company. She texted him back, and he had to fight himself from yanking the phone out of his pocket on the first vibrate.

From Hinami Fueguchi, 8:39 PM  
Drink plenty of water, and please take care of yourself. I have a lot of reading to do, but I should be able to knock it out before midnight. 

That much homework, and it was only the first week? He shook his head, tapping out a reply.

To Hinami Fueguchi, 8:40 PM   
I’ll be fine I just have to sleep it off. Don’t stress yourself out too much. 

She responded quickly.

From Hinami Fueguchi, 8:41 PM  
I won’t! Tell me if you didn’t understand anything on the notes.

 

Shit, the notes. Tossing his phone aside and ignoring the urge to keep texting her, even though they both had their own work to do, he pulled her binder into his lap and opened it, examining the contents. It wasn’t anything too difficult – he had memories of doing the same thing in high school. Even though he wasn’t the best at math, he could still scrape by pretty easily. He wasn’t looking for an A, just a passing grade.

He noticed that her notes were incredibly detailed, and it looked like she’d gone over them with another pen color after she took them. She was nothing if not thorough. The explanations she included made the work easy to understand, and before long, he had all five pages of the detailed notes copied into his own notebook. 

He looked at the clock, noticing that it was getting pretty late, and despite the insane amount of sleep he’d gotten that day, he was exhausted. He ruefully reminded himself to not ever drink that much on a school night again, yanking back the sheets on his bed and climbing in. He took his phone, and even though the brightness was turned all the way down, the light burned his eyes.

Should he text her? No, she was probably busy. But he hadn’t responded to her last text, what if she was upset about it? Should he send her one just in case? Why –

He buried his face in his pillow, groaning. Why was he so fixated on it? Ignoring the gnawing feeling of shame burning in his chest, he sent her a text before he fell asleep.

To Hinami Fueguchi, 11:56 PM  
Thanks for the notes, they really helped. I’ll see you Friday.

~

Ayato blinked, the bright sun streaming through his blinds wrenching him from his peaceful sleep. He scrambled to find his phone to check the time, and was relieved when he realized he had an hour before his first class. His headache, along with all other hangover symptoms, had dissipated, and he was glad he could think straight. 

He dressed for class, yanking on a pair of a baggy sweats and donning a worn out tee shirt he hardly ever wore. The omnipresent question of whether or not to load up on caffeine so early in the morning lingered in his mind as he filled his schoolbag with the necessary contents, and he decided that a half pot of coffee would be enough to get him through the morning until he could get to the coffee shop.

His shitty coffee maker spewed, making angry, unpleasant noises as the brown liquid filtered through. The first thing to be replaced whenever he found a job would be that coffee maker, though it had been faithful to him for years. It was just time for an upgrade. He pulled a chipped mug from his cabinet, coated the bottom of it with sugar, and poured the steaming coffee in carefully. He went over his schedule as he gulped down the coffee, not really caring at the stinging sensation in his throat, and realized that he had a five o’clock art class that lasted until eight. Perfect. He checked his phone before pouring the rest of the contents of his cup into a travel mug, feeling a little dejected when he realized he didn’t have any texts from her. Had he said something wrong? No, he couldn’t have… 

Shaking these thoughts from his head, he grabbed his bag and keys, half walking, half running to the door when he realized he had only fifteen minutes to get to class. Those worries, those irrational, ridiculous worries, could wait until after his History class.

 

~

The day dragged on, and after Ayato’s last class of the day, he knew he was going to have to pay a visit to the coffee shop. Loaded with homework and readings, he dreaded thinking about the weekend to come, which was surely to be devoted to nothing but studying. As he got in line to order his coffee, he was taken by surprise when a pair of small, soft hands closed over his eyes.

“You get three guesses.”

Despite the sudden scare, a smile spread across his face.

“What’s my prize if I win?”

“The satisfaction of knowing you’ve won?”

“Oh, that’s no fun.”

He pried her hands from his eyes, and before he could turn around to face her, he chuckled.

“We seem to run into each other here more often than we should. How much coffee have you had today?”

He turned to look at her, and was not surprised to see she was beaming at him, like usual.

“Ummm… can I have a pass on that?” She asked, flushing a little as her expression turned to guilt.

“You’re gonna kill yourself with all that caffeine, you know.”

She swatted him lightly on the shoulder.

“You’re in no position to be preaching to me; you smell stronger of coffee than this shop.”

“Sue me. So, you done with class today?”

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and nodded.

“Yep. And I have all my homework done. Did you… um… did you maybe want to hang out?”

He grimaced, truly hating art for the first time in his life.

“I can, but only long enough to get this into my system,” he said, indicating to the barista. “I have an art class at five.”

She looked disappointed at first, but the frown fell from her face as quickly as it appeared, and she grinned.

“Oooh, sounds fun. What kind of stuff are you working on?”

“Dunno, it’s my first time in that class. It’s only once a week, but I’m there until eight.”

“Still, aren’t you excited?”

He shrugged.

“More or less. I don’t know how I’m going to feel about being told what to draw.”

“Hey, it’s good practice, either way! And, it’s a lot better than sitting in math class for three hours.”

He grinned, despite himself, and quickly told the barista his order so he could talk to Hinami.

“I guess. Still, that test tomorrow, you ready?”

“Oh, I was born ready. Did you get any use out of those notes?”

He waited for her to order her own coffee, then walked with her to the counter so they could get it as soon as it was ready.

“I did. I texted you last night before I fell asleep.”

She frowned, pulling out her phone.

“You did? I didn’t – Oh. I’m sor –“

“Nah. Don’t worry about it. You had your own work to do, anyways. How late were you up?”

“I finished at around one. I had to take a break to –“

“Get coffee?” He supplied, smirking.

“I have a weakness, and I can admit it. But yeah, I got all of my reading done.”

She told him about her assignments until their coffee came out, and then they found the table they favored to be unoccupied and took their seats.

“So, you don’t think you’re going to have anything to do this weekend?”

She shook her head.

“Nope. I’m probably going to end up reading a few of my books to relax.”

“Eugh. Reading even when you don’t have to do it?”

“Hey, I happen to enjoy it. What are your plans for the weekend?”

He downed half of his coffee in one, long gulp, much to Hinami’s utter shock, and plowed on without calling attention to it,

“I’m going to have a lot of homework to do. Probably won’t get to do much. Do you… maybe want to come over? I mean, it won’t be fun, but we could just hang out and if you wanted to read while I did my homework, then …”

“I’d like that.” She said with a smile, drinking some of her own coffee. “And if you get done, maybe we could watch some movies again.”

“Lazy weekend in. Sounds pretty good to me. We could probably mix it up this time, though. How about Chinese instead of pizza?”

“Only,” She said, holding up her finger. “If you let me pay for some of it.”

“Maybe,” He said as if he was thinking about it, but was already coming up with ways to distract her so he could pay the deliverer. “Oh, shit, I have to go.”

She got up, grabbing her coffee.

“Want me to walk with you? I don’t have anywhere to be. And besides, you did walk me all the way to my dorms yesterday.”

Spending more time with her? Um, yeah, he wanted her to.

“Sure, let’s go.”


	6. Chill

As Hinami walked back to her dorm from escorting Ayato to his art class, she looked up at the sky with bright, gleaming caramel eyes and delighted in the sight of buttery daylight melting into burnt oranges and peachy pinks as the bright, sunny day transitioning into calming dawn. A foreign, genuine feeling of elation bloomed in her chest and spread through the rest of her body in strong waves, consuming her whole and kicking her brain into a content state of being. There was something about the way he spoke to her that made her feel like she was fun to be around, and despite her kind, caring disposition, there weren’t many people that found her company particularly enthralling. She felt her lips curve up even more when she thought of the coming weekend. Even if they were just doing homework or sitting in silence, there was something about the security and comfort of his company that made her happy.

Her bookbag, laden with heavy textbooks and a variety of pens felt almost weightless even as she dropped it in the corner of her dorm, announcing her entrance to her roommate. Living with another person wasn’t necessarily a hard thing for Hinami, she just worried that living in close proximity would cause friction and clashes. That was before she met Saiko, whose only request was a little extra fridge space and the understanding that there would be the occasional loud beep of her handheld gaming system at random points of the day. 

“Hey,” She said brightly, and Saiko appeased her with a lazy smile. “Have a good day at class?”

Saiko shrugged, then turned her attention back to the game she was playing. Hinami understood, giggled, and settled in at her desk to mark off due dates on her detailed planner. She was chewing on the end of her pen when she felt a vibration in her pocket. She fished her phone out with slightly trembling fingers – sudden noises or movements made her anxious, especially her phone when she wasn’t expecting it to go off – and checked the screen.

New message from : Ayato Kirishima, 5:29 PM

A smile stretched across her face without her even meaning for it to, then it quickly disappeared when she realized he was supposed to be learning – not texting her. She pressed the ‘open’ button and had to fight back a laugh when she saw the words.

 

‘send help. This dude is fucking crazy’

She tapped out a reply, asking what he was referring t and if he should even have his phone out, not bothering to turn her focus back to the planner when she finished it. She was eager to see what he meant. To her delight, he replied shortly after her pressing ‘send’ and once again, the message incited a bubble of laughter to bloom in the back of her throat.

‘this art professor. Hes fucking insane. Hes playing rly loud metal music and hes got so many tattoos. The 1st thing he asked us 2 draw was a bloody eye’  
Hinami bit her lip and sent another message.

 

‘Only two and a half hours left, though. You can tell me all about it later. Pay attention, he might be crazy, but the craziest ones are usually the most knowledgeable. Have fun!

She was teasing him a little bit, and she could practically see the snarl on his face. After marking down a few more assignments in her planner, she reached for a worn out book with a protesting spine she’d been working on since last night and tried to lose herself in the story. Her phone buzzed one last time, and her heart skipped a beat at the new message.

 

‘im picking you up after class and were going to drown ourselves in Chinese food. No excuses.’

 

She didn’t get much reading done after that.

~

 

A couple of hours and three cups of cafeteria coffee later, Hinami was pulling a hoodie over a thin, cotton shirt and packing a bag of the essentials – Books, pens and paper. Ayato had just gotten finished with his class, and he seemed desperate to get out of there, so she agreed to meet him outside her dorm.

She waved to Saiko with a bright smile and grabbed her keys, excited at the prospect of seeing him and listening to him rant about how pissed off he was from art class. She immediately regretted her decision to not wear something a little warmer, because as soon as she got outside, the chill of the wind bit at her cheeks and sent shivers throughout her body. She plopped down on the steps, trying to focus on something other than the chilly weather, and pulled her hair back into a low sitting, messy bun. The strands of her hair were wispy and thin, and she didn’t have a lot of it to work with, so the bun flopped against the back of her head, flattening pathetically.

“Hey short-stuff.” A deep voice called, and Hinami was so startled, she tripped during her scramble to rise to her feet.

“Oh, H-Hey, Ayato.”

He didn’t look annoyed, which was surprising, but rather happy to see her. He laughed at the sight of her tripping and reached out to lend an arm for her to steady herself. She accepted gladly and flushed as the embarrassment of being a klutz seeped into her and saturated any confidence she had with shame.

“You look cold.” He noted, raising an eyebrow at her choice of clothing. “You gonna make it?”

“It’s f-fine,” She stammerd, more so because of her embarrassment than the cold, but Ayato took it differently.

He shrugged off his heavy sweatshirt, leaving him behind in only a baggy, black tee shirt, and tossed it to Hinami. 

“Here. Just until we get to the apartment. It’s pretty cold out, and you’re smaller than a bug, sooooo.”

She felt her cheeks warm at the gesture pulled off her bag to put it on over her clothing. Ayato quickly took the bag before she could set it on the ground, and she smiled gratefully. She decided that though Ayato was lanky and somewhat raily in appearance, his sweatshirt swallowed her. Her fingers didn’t even skim the openings for the arms and it fit her like a dress, scraping the tops of her knees. Ayato laughed.

“Oh my God, you’re a fucking toddler!” He guffawed, and Hinami felt a slight indigence bubble in her tiny being.

“It’s not my fault you’re a giant!” She complained, pouting and crossing her arms for good measure.

Ayato’s laughter ebbed away, and he had to compose his features when he realized he was looking at her with the utmost fondest expression that had ever graced his face. He cleared his throat and patted her on the head with his large hand, smirking.

“It’s cute.”

He didn’t get to see the way Hinami’s eyes bugged out and the way her mouth hung slack at his comment, because he was turning to lead the way to his apartment.

“Wait, my bag –“

“Nuh-uh. You focus on being warm. Rub those little hands together, huh? I got this. And when we get home – er – when we get to my apartment, I’ll make us some coffee. After the day I had, I need it.”

“Homework.” She reminded him.

“I will, I will – thanks for the reminder, mother.” He teased.

Little did they know that homework was going to be the last thing on their minds.


	7. Hardly Working

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize how bizarre the coffee preferences of the two are. You wouldn’t expect Ayato to like sugary sweet coffee and you wouldn’t expect sweet little Hinami to like black, bitter coffee. I realize it’s strange, but there IS a reason for this, which you will find out later. It’s not just a little quirk, I have plans for this dynamic! I have so many secrets hidden and I can’t wait for them to surface. I hope you are enjoying the story so far, this is my favorite thing to write and I’m pleased that I’m delivering well with this pairing.

The walk to Ayato’s apartment, as what seemed to be the norm for them, was quiet and comfortable. Ayato kept stealing glances at Hinami, smirk tugging at the corner of his lips at the sight of his jacket swallowing her. He liked how she looked in it, and for some reason, the sight made him happy. He kinda wanted to empty a drawer of his clothes just to give to her, but then quickly shook the thought from his head when he realized how pathetic that was. 

 

He unlocked the door and immediately kicked his shoes off, encouraging Hinami to do the same. She was shrugging the coat off to hand to him when he turned around, and he pushed it back at her when she offered it. 

 

“Are you still cold?” He inquired with a raise of his eyebrow.

 

“I… um…”

 

“Don’t lie to me.” 

 

“Yes.” She mumbled, looking a little embarrassed.

 

Ayato rolled his eyes.

 

“Keep it on until you’re warmer, dumbass. You’re gonna catch a cold, then who’s gonna have to bring you notes? Me.”

 

Hinami would have felt a little sad at the ‘dumbass’ comment, but the way he said it lacked any rage or animosity or annoyance – he spoke with a light tone and his eyes weren’t that same icy state from when she first met him. He was teasing her, and that made her feel a little lightheaded. 

 

“You know, I did bring you notes, so that would only be fair.” She reasoned, tugging the coat tightly over her shoulders and breathing in the scent.

 

“So,” He challenged, crossing his arms. “You only did that with an ulterior motive and not out of the pure goodness of your golden heart? I’m scandalized.”

 

She laughed, and he kinda wanted to hurl himself off of a cliff when he felt his stomach flip at the sound.

 

“Didn’t you say something about coffee?” She asked slowly, like she’d been waiting to ask that since they got in.

 

Ayato grinned.

 

“ We’re going to kill ourselves will all of this caffeine one day, you do realize that, right?”

 

“I’ve built up enough of a tolerance by this point that I daresay it won’t affect me. And if it does, I’ll die happily and with the taste of coffee on my tongue.” She said solemnly, but couldn’t fight a small smile as she finished.

He was glad she didn’t fight it, she looked so beautiful when she smiled. He realized he was lingering a bit too much on that smile, so he cleared his throat and turned to the kitchen to fill up his ancient coffee maker. Hinami’s eyes widened when she saw it.

 

“When did you buy this?” 

 

“Like… fuckin’…. Maybe six or seven years ago?”

 

“And it works?” She asked, tone laced with doubt.

 

“Hey, hey, hey – no knockin’ my coffee maker or you’re getting none of the delicious nectar it has to offer. Tone down the sass.” He retorted, the thought of how easily conversation came between them swimming in the back of his mind. “She’s served me well.”

 

“It’s a she? She’s beautiful, what’s her name?” Hinami played along, walking over to him and lightly patting the side of the now personified coffee maker.

 

“Her name is Mocha and she’s aged gracefully.” Ayato said without skipping a beat, much to Hinami’s amusement. “You just have to treat her right and she’ll give you love. Kinda like in a relationship.”

 

Hinami snickered.

 

“You’re married to your coffee maker?”

 

“We’re waiting until we’re a little more settled for the ring, but she’s been giving me hints, so I suppose I better get a move on, soon.”

 

“Please don’t disappoint Mocha, and make sure I’m at your wedding.”

 

Ayato chortled and fiddled with the buttons, finally getting it to crank out the searing brown liquid with the usual straining, mechanical sounds he hears on a daily basis. He turned to Hinami, satisfied for getting Mocha to cooperate the first time, and she looked frightened.

 

“Huh?” He asked, leaning back against the counter. 

 

“What … What is that? Is she okay? She sounds like she’s not okay.”

 

“She’s fiiiiiiiiiiine. She does that every day. But, seriously, the coffee that comes from this machine is without comparison. You’re going to love it, trust me.”  
‘Trust me.’ It was said in a lighthearted way, yet the both of them immediately felt the impact of those weight-laden words. Thick, gray fear in the form of storm clouds occupied both of their minds, shedding daylight and progressing into a nearly cataclysmic downpour. Trust was fleeting. People were unpredictable, both of them knew that far too well. Trust was something that didn’t come easily and once it was gone, it was nearly impossible to get back. Like a disappearing tide, it vanishes before it’s had a chance to be known and experienced, leaving behind broken remnants of what once possessed vivid life and cracked debris.

 

They both looked at each other for a moment, then Hinami broke the silence with another sunshine smile.

 

“So, you ready to get that homework done?”

 

Ayato groaned.

 

“Ugh… I was hoping you’d forget about that. Can I just have a break? Art class was fucking awful.”

 

“I need to hear about this. Why was it so bad?”

 

Ayato looked at her with wide eyes, opened his mouth like he was going to speak, then closed it again. He didn’t even know where to begin.

 

“Okay, so you got my fucking text, right? This guy – Uta – whatever the fuck – He comes into class ten minutes late and he’s carrying this giant canvas, and we’re all just staring like – “Dude, what?” – And then he put it down and just turned to us and said we had to draw a bloody eye. Out of nowhere! This guy’s really weird – he’s got these tattoos all over him and they’re not bad or strange he’s just… really creepy. I was doing my drawing, just minding my own fucking business and I look behind me and he’s literally RIGHT there breathing down my neck and said, “That’s really interesting. Carry on.” Then walks away?”   
Hinami bit her lip to fight the laughter she knew would escape if she didn’t block it. He was so lively, so animated, and clearly annoyed. 

 

“And then he – are you laughing?”

 

“I’m sorry but – I – What?” She managed, before slapping her hands to her mouth to muffle the sound.

 

That was futile, because even with the barrier, he could still hear her, clear as day, amused as hell out of his little anecdote. He felt his cheeks heat up and he knew if he didn’t occupy himself he was going to flush just because she was laughing. Why was literally everything she did so goddamn adorable?

 

“I – It was just weird, okay? And why are you laughing at my pain, show some sensitivity, dammit!”

 

“Sorry! I just – and didn’t he play obnoxious music as well?”

 

“You just heard the first part! He switched to opera half way through and SANG ALONG.” 

 

That only made her laugh harder, and he realized he was joining in after a few moments. Her smile and laughter were contagious, and after the fact of the class being over, he did realize how comical the entire situation was. His annoyance melted away within moments. Just when the laughter was dying down, a loud snort ripped from Hinami’s throat and her eyes went wide. Ayato was silent for a brief moment, then proceeded to fall to the floor and cover his face as the laughter went on, unable to contain the guffaws leaving his mouth. His stomach hurt so much from it, but he couldn’t help it. 

 

“Did you just snort?” He managed between breaths, looking up at her with a red face and watery eyes. 

 

“Don’t make fun of me! You sound like a dying whale!” She retorted, erring on the defensive side.

 

Ayato stood to his feet shakily and wiped at his eyes, and just as he was about to reassure her that it was the cutest thing ever, the coffee maker stopped and the pot was almost overflowing with the stuff. It was probably a good thing that he was cut off, because if he wasn’t, he would have made an ass of himself talking about how much he loved her snort. He poured both of them a generous amount of liquid and passed Hinami her cup.

 

“Here ya go, you bitter-loving freak.”

 

“Enjoy your syrup and your rotting teeth.” She responded sweetly. 

 

Hinami tried not to look too shocked when Ayato poured a metric shit ton of sugar into his coffee and instead focused on cooling hers down a bit. She lifted the warm, comforting cup to her lips and braced herself for the bliss. She tilted the cup back, allowing the contents to splash against her tongue, awaiting the delicious taste. Instead, she was met with the weakest coffee she’d ever tasted in her life. She wiped her mouth and looked up at him, and her expression must have shown how she felt, because he looked a little worried.

 

“Wh-What?”

 

“This?” She indicated to her cup. “Is water.”

 

Ayato raised his eyebrows and took the cup from her. 

 

“Can I try it?” He asked, lifting the cup to emphasize his point.

 

She nodded, not too bothered about the whole germ thing, and Ayato tossed some of it back. He smacked his lips and winced a little at the bitter taste of the pure black coffee, but handed it back to her.

 

“It tastes fine to me. Other than the nastiness without the sugar.”

 

“This is the weakest thing I have ever tasted in my entire life. How much did you use?”

 

“Like… one and half scoops to twelve cups?”

 

Hinami’s mouth went slack.

 

“Is that… why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“I use three!”

 

Ayato’s eyes narrowed.

 

“How are you even real? You’re so – how do you even stomach that shit?”  
“You have so much to learn. I’m making the coffee next time, okay?”

 

Ayato tried to keep his expression carefully composed into something of indifference, but he couldn’t deny that he went a little dizzy with happiness at the prospect of ‘next time’. True to her caffeine addiction, even though Hinami didn’t like the taste, she drank every last drop of her cup and asked for seconds. Coffee was coffee, that girl was just as beautiful as the other, even if she was a little bitter.

 

Their homework materials were spread across the floor and Ayato kept finding ways to procrastinate his work while she read, asking her questions about the book and if she was liking it. Hinami wasn’t an idiot, she saw right through every attempt at putting off the work and crossed her arms.

 

“You said you were going to get it done.”

 

“I am, I am, shit. I’m being really productive, I promise.”

 

“You haven’t turned that page in twenty minutes.”

 

“I’m taking it in and letting the knowledge soak into my body. Shhh, it’s doing it’s work right now – can you hear it?”

 

She swatted him lightly on the arm with her book.

 

“I’m quizzing you in half an hour and if you don’t know any of the answers, I’m going to leave so you’re not distracted.”

 

Hinami would never admit that the way he shoved his nose in the material and diligently filled out his answer sheet kind of made her beam. The night progressed and after a call for takeout, multiple study breaks, and three verbal quizzes courtesy of Hinami, she looked at the time.

 

“It’s midnight!”

 

“So?” Ayato asked, looking up from a doodle he’d been working in favor of his actual assignment.

 

“I’m going to be locked out of my dorm unless I can get my roommate to let me in – I – I can’t believe I let this happen –“

 

“Woah, woah, woah. Calm down. Look, just text your roommate. And if it does happen, you can just crash here.”

 

Hinami went stiff at the last part and he knew immediately that he shouldn’t have said that. Despite their level of comfort with one another, they hadn’t known each other for very long. It felt like they’d been acquainted for years, but when he saw her practically turn into a statue at the mention of staying the night, he remembered where they really stood.

 

“I’ll – Yeah, good idea, I’ll text her.” Hinami said, navigating away from the uncomfortable silence.

 

She pulled out her phone and tapped out a quick text. She got a reply not thirty seconds later, and her face flooded with color and relief. Ayato tried to not let that bother him too much.

 

“She said she would let me in. I’ve probably overstayed my welcome a little, too.” She bit her lip and looked down, avoiding his gaze as she spoke. “I should get going.”

 

“Hey, don’t worry about that kind of shit. You can come over whenever you want and stay whenever you want. No pressure, got it? Just don’t feel like you’re bothering me or something. Like I said last time, if I didn’t like hanging out with you, I wouldn’t invite you.”

 

Hinami smiled a little and started to gather her belongings. It wasn’t much, just her novel of choice, a notebook and a few pens. She stood up, smoothed out her shirt, and waved. 

 

“I’ll see you –“

 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Wh-what?” She looked startled.

 

Ayato rolled his eyes, stretched out, and groaned as he stood to join her. He grabbed his coat she’d shed a few hours prior and tossed it to her.

 

“Come on, dumbass, you’re not walking alone at midnight.”

 

He was making his way to the door, keys in hand, when she put her hand on his shoulder.

 

“Huh? Did you forget something?” He asked, turning to her.

 

“No, I just…” She trailed off, looking like she was unsure of how to choose her words. “Thank you.”

 

He laughed.

 

“I dunno why you’re thanking me, but okay. You’re welcome, I guess?”  
Hinami flushed.

 

“Thank you for being my friend. I mean – I don’t want to – if we ARE friends – don’t feel –“

 

Ayato leaned forward and clamped his large hand over her mouth, effectively silencing her.

 

“You think too much. Come on, buddy, pal, friend.” He drew out the last word with a sarcastic lilt and grinned when she grew redder.

 

When he followed her out the door he tried not to dwell too much on the fact that the word ‘friend’ tasted like vinegar in his mouth.


	8. Innocence

The next week flew by with no trace of evidence of fun to be had. Ayato and Hinami barely had a spare moment to speak in class, let alone on their own free time. Hinami’s literature class proved to be a little more demanding than she had anticipated, and Ayato’s art class was proving to be a little more… interesting… than he had anticipated.

With the absence of their meetings ame the convenience of texts, and they had to practically pry their phones from their hands so they could focus on actual work instead of one another. She joked about his awful coffee maker, asking how his darling Mocha was faring, and he teased her about her love for bitter coffee, claiming she was actually a stuffy old man in disguise.

Texts were all well and good, and while they filled the void of no communication at all, it was a little upsetting that they couldn’t actually hang out. Despite knowing one another for only a short amount of time, they felt comfortable. It was easy, just as easy as walking to class or spending the day in a favorite sanctuary. It was as easy as the process of breathing, easy as the sky was blue and certain as the sun coming out every day. It simply… was. They didn’t question it, because why question something so comfortable?

Neither one of the pair ever stepped out of their comfort zone. They were simply content being alone, doing their own thing because that was predictable. Nothing could go awry if they didn’t let it. Why walk a wobbly plank when you’re uncertain of the fate you’re destined to meet? They were both odd in the sense that, while they were rational, there was always that lingering, dark cloud looming in their minds - something is going to happen. Both having come from similar backgrounds and being orphaned when they were young aged them years beyond what they looked. Growing up was something that was inevitable, but when there was no security or certainty in their lives laden with cruelty and unfortunate circumstances, growing up happened almost overnight. 

The same question ricocheted in their minds like a fucked up boomerang that didn’t know when to quit -

Can I truly trust another person?

~

“Come on, it’s Friday. You don’t have class until Monday. I swear I won’t distract you!”

Hinami shifted the phone to her other ear as she tried to extricate a pen from the contents of her jumbled up backpack, silently cheering when she managed to fish it out of the mess. 

“But… I have so much reading to do…”

“Hinaaaaaamiiiiii.” He groaned, and she felt her heart beat just a little faster when he said her name like that. “I’m so fucking bored. I have a drawing to do. We’ll both be doing our own thing!”

Hinami giggled. Ayato almost died.

“Okay, but if we’re both doing our own thing and actually getting work done, what’s the point of hanging out?”

Ayato didn’t speak for a few moments.

Because I like having you around? Because you make everything just a little more tolerable? Because I fucking loathe the rest of the world and you’re a goddamn enigma because I crave the very way you live?

“Uh… because… we can suffer together.” Was the poetry he ended up coming up with.

“Well, when you put it like that - I love suffering as long as I know someone else is.” 

She was being sarcastic, but he played into it for the pure purpose of keeping her on the line.

“Yeah, misery loves company and shit. It’s fucking science, I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried. Come over?”

He bit his lip when she went quiet.

“I’m making the coffee this time.”

“Fair exchange. You keeping me company and murdering me with your devil coffee.”

“It’s not my fault you’re a weakling. You’re a fake coffee connoisseur. I’m almost ashamed.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’m coming to get you.”

“See you soon.”

“Later, loser.”

~

He was in physical pain. He was going to fucking die, holy shit, and she was going to be the reason. A bitter, sharp taste spread across his tongue, plunging his very being into a state of such despair, he didn’t know if he was going to make it. He choked back what liquid was in his mouth, eyes brimming with the nascent forms of tears and fingers curling into fists at the awful taste.

“I told you this shit is - fuck - devil coffee.” He sputtered, wiping his mouth and pushing the cup away with a horrified expression on his face.

“Oh, you’re being a baby. Let me try it -” Hinami admonished, then took the cup from him and tossed the contents back like it was water.

She swallowed, and he was so entranced by the way the liquid moved down her pale, soft-looking throat that he almost forgot to be disgusted. She licked her lips, and his eyes shifted to the ground.

“It’s perfectly fine. What’s so bad about it?”

His head snapped back up in disbelief and she had to fight back laughter when she saw the sneer on his face.

“What’s so bad about it? This shit is fucking poison. How do you drink it?”

“Coffee is coffee. We can water it down, if you’d like, poor baby.” She cooed, teasing him and stepping on his last nerve. 

“Don’t patronize me, if we poured that in a potted plant, it would die instantly.”

“I’m holding you to that, we’re going to eventually test that theory out.” 

“Please don’t make the poor plant suffer, wasn’t I enough of a casualty?”

She shook her head and swatted his arm playfully.

“Are we going to be productive, or are you going to go on and on about how perfectly good coffee is a danger to your weak body?”

“You’re lucky you’re fun to be around, otherwise I would destroy you.”

“Mhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmm, now where’s your sketchbook, weakling?”

~

The next few hours passed in comfortable silence. Hinami’s legs were tucked underneath her petite body as she thumbed through her required text, pink tongue stuck out in concentration as she focused on the words and soaked in their meaning. Ayato was barely paying attention to his drawing, he was too focused on watching her. 

She was fascinating, and while he liked to observe her body language, her face was so expressive. Her emotions flashed across her face like a projector, and it was so easy to tell when she was amused, sad, or angry. The lines in her face shifted with every passing thought and sentence, and Ayato could tell that the book was a particularly happy one, because her lips were unconsciously pulled into a soft, gentle smile. She almost caught him once, but he covered his ass by asking her if she wanted something to drink.

~

“What are you working on?” Hinami asked when they both stopped, satisfied with their work for the day.

“What d’you mean?”

“Your art, silly. What are you drawing? Let me see your sketchbook!”

He moved so quickly that she could have sworn he possessed supernatural abilities. The bright, obnoxiously yellow sketchbook was just beyond the reach of her small hand, Ayato holding it up.

“Hey! Not fair!”

“An artist never reveals their best work, it’s a secret.”

Hinami’s expression changed, and she looked a little more reserved. She slowly pulled back, smoothed her shirt and said, “Okay, that’s fine.”

“Good, because - hey! Back down, spider monkey!”

Just as Ayato had let his guard down, she was back it. Her small body stretched across his as she reached for the book, fingertips just grazing the edge. Ayato, however, wasn’t really focused on keeping the book away at that point. Her body draped over his, and she was practically straddling his lap in her attempt to get the book. He swallowed convulsively, heartbeat increasing by what felt like ten thousand beats per minute, and he almost swore.

“Ayaaaaaaaaatoooooo,” She whined, clearly oblivious to the implications of the position she was in. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.”

She was on top of him, hips dangerously close to his, and she was begging. Pleading. Saying his name. And the fucked up part was that she was so goddamn innocent, face pure and eyes round with trust and naivety, that it made him even more aware of how appealing she was. Her innocence drove him insane. She was something so pure, so untainted, and there he was, absent-mindedly holding the sketchbook away from her while his mind worked at the speed of light, fabricating imaginary scenarios that sent his blood pulsing and head throbbing.

“Ayato?”

Fuck. Fuck. No, this couldn’t be happening. Shit. Ayato cleared his throat and slowly eased out from underneath her. He stood up, put the sketchbook on top of his counter and gathered himself before he spoke.

“I’ll show you some day, okay? It’s not finished yet.”

His voice still shook, try as he could to fight it.

“Hungry?”


	9. Drunk

Friday nights among college students vary – some spend it out partying with their friends, others lamenting their classes and ignoring homework whilst distracting themselves with Netflix – Then there’s Ayato and Hinami, who find joy in inhaling cheap cups of Ramen and watching children’s films. Yeah, they both recognize the apparent sadness that comes along with adults smiling along with bad jokes and whimsical animation, but neither one of them really care that much. The company wasn’t so bad, either. Everything was comfortable. It was nice. Until Ayato breaks the silence with a question.

“Do you want to drink a little?”

Hinami’s eyes widen and it take a moment for her to process what he just asked.

“Drink? As in like… alcohol drink?”

Ayato laughed, effectively tinging Hinami’s cheeks with a red stain, and she looked away out of embarrassment.

“Yeah, as in alcohol drink. We don’t have to if you don’t want to, I just thought I’d offer.”

“Doesn’t it taste nasty?” Hinami inquired, wrinkling her cute little nose.

Ayato cleared his throat, momentarily taken aback by how adorable she was. 

“Do you like coconut?”

“Yes…” 

“Okay, how about this, I’ll mix you a drink, and if you like it, great, and if you don’t, you don’t have to drink it. Cool?”

“… okay…” She agreed wearily.

~

Ten minutes and lots of clanking around later, Ayato managed to find his secret stash of coconut rum. 

“Hey, it may be a wuss drink, but it tastes great and gets the job done.” He defended himself.

Hinami stared down at the dark liquid in her plastic cup, swirling it around and putting off actually drinking it. Ayato fought a grin.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, you know. I just thought it would be something fun to do. Help you relax a little.”

“I want to!” Hinami insisted, then tilted the contents of the cup back into her mouth. 

A sweet taste spread across her tongue, and though the drink burned as it tore down her throat, she found she thoroughly enjoyed it. She winced at the fire in her throat.  
“Bad?” Ayato asked, looking immediately worried.

“No,” She found herself saying. “No, it’s actually really good… What’s in this?”

Relief spread through Ayato and he pointed to the kitchen. A bottle of coconut rum and a couple of empty cans of soda spread across the counter.

“Rum and coke. Simple. But you like it, huh?”

“I like it a lot!” Hinami admitted, taking another drink soon after finishing her thought.

“Woah, woah, slow down speed racer. You’re really tiny and I don’t want you to drink too much too fast. Pace yourself. Enjoy it. I’m not tryin’ to get you drunk here.”

“Mhm, sure you aren’t. You just want to see me make a fool of myself, don’t you?” She teased, ignoring his request to slow down and downing half her cup in one gulp.  
Ayato looked scandalized. 

“No, that’s not –“

“Relax! I was just kidding. I know your intentions are pure. For the most part.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I’m the purest of the pure, the absolute purest person on this entire planet.”

Hinami laughed so hard, her next drink burned in more ways than one. 

“Oh, you brat. Just watch the goddamn movie.” He huffed, taking a sip of his own drink.

~

 

“Okay, you’ve definitely had enough.” 

Hinami faced him, cheeks puffed out and pink from the liquor she’d consumed. It hadn’t been very much, but being a newbie to alcohol and the size of a bird, it was enough to make her feel it. She pushed her cup into his face and shook her head.

“I just want one more. It tasted so good. I’m fine, I promise.”

She truly did look and sound like she was fine. Ayato looked inside her drained cup, then to her.

“How do you feel?”

She smiled. The small change of expression did horrible things to his heart-rate.

“Happy. Good. What about you?”

Truthfully, he’d been too worried about her having too much that he hadn’t paid much attention to his own drink. Half the contents of his first cup were still untouched, and she just finished up her second one. 

“I feel fine. I’m more concerned about you.”

“Why are you concerned?” She asked, tilting her head to the side and frowning.

“Because… you’re like… fuckin’ tiny, dude. Like I said, I’m not about to go get you drunk.”

“I’m not drunk, I promise. I just feel light and happy.”

“Okay, so you’re buzzed. That’s the gateway to drunk. Fuckin’ science.”

“Just one more cup. I’m really thirsty. Please?”

Ayato groaned. Why was it so fucking impossible to say no to her?

“You can have HALF as much as before and the second I see you getting drunk, you’re cut off, got me?”

Hinami giggled.

“Whatever you say, dad.”

“Oh, you brat. You’re so lucky I –“ He cut himself off.

“Huh? So lucky what?” 

“Just pick another movie.”

~

 

She didn’t even have to drink the third half cup of alcohol. The liquor started to hit her, and it hit her fast right after the second movie’s opening scene. Ayato didn’t even notice until she rested her head against his shoulder. That was enough to send a tremble through his body, and he hated himself for it.  
“What, are you tired?” He asked, eyes still glued to the television.

“Mmm, I’m cold.” She replied, words a little wobbly and tone softer than her normal speaking voice.

Red alert. Abort mission, abort mission. Ayato turned to face her and despite the fact that she just looked sleepy, he could tell she’d had enough.

“Okay, you’re cut off.” He insisted, grabbing for her cup.

She caught his arm and tugged on it, and her grip was light enough that he could shake her off, but he didn’t want to.

“I don’t want anymore, I promise. Can you get a blanket, though?”

Ayato glanced at the clock, realizing it was a little later than he thought. 

“I can, but… aren’t you like… I mean, fuck I just – don’t you want me to take you back to your dorm?”

He made the mistake of looking into her eyes, which started swimming, brimming with tears moments after he said that. 

“You – you don’t want me to stay?”

Fuck. She was an emotional drunk. Of course she was.

“No, no, that’s not it, I just thought you wanted to get back before it got too late, and –“

“No. I like it here. I’m just cold. Please? Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?”

Ayato winced, warring with himself. On one hand, she was sober enough to make conscious decisions, she wasn’t piss drunk. So, he didn’t feel too badly about caving. On the other, he was terrified she was going to fall asleep, wake up, and hate him for giving her the alcohol that fueled her desire to stay the night. At that point, he knew it was going to be a bitch getting her back to her dorm. No way was he letting her walk by herself sober, let alone when she’s buzzed and clearly not in her exact right mind. 

“Fine. I’m getting a blanket. But you’re not getting any more to drink, get me?”

“I don’t want anymore, just get the blanket, you big grump.” She slurred a little, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Brat.” He teased, still going to get the blanket though because he was fucking whipped.

~

 

The blanket was his favorite. It was giant, fuzzy, and even though he’d owned it for three years, it still served him well. Hinami seemed to think so, too, stealing the majority of its coverage and cocooning herself inside it. The sight was so fucking cute, Ayato found it hard to breathe. Despite her initial drunken demand, she’d quieted down a lot. He supposed the alcohol was settling, and since she hadn’t drank that much to begin with (he would never admit he gave her less than she thought) perhaps she was sobering up.  
Ayato wasn’t really paying much attention to the movie anymore, even since it started. He was hyper aware of her body next to his, and he couldn’t quite slake the craving of wanting to be closer to her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and fall asleep on the couch. He wanted to hug her little body close to his and give her all the warmth he possibly could. He wanted – 

“Ayato?” She spoke, startling him out of his less than friendly thoughts.

“What?”

“What are your parents like?” 

Simple question as it was, it was enough to turn his entire body to stone.

“Wouldn’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“They died when I was little. I grew up with my sister.”

“Oh.” She said softly.

“Yeah.”

“My parents are dead, too.”

There was a small silence as a song broke out on the television, and neither one of them really caught along with the words like they usually did. Hinami spoke again.  
“I miss them.”

Family had always been something of a sore subject for Ayato. He didn’t like talking about. No one asked him, so there was no reason for him to answer. It was that simple.  
“How old were you when –“

“Fourteen.” She answered quietly, and he could practically feel the sadness emanating from her.

“It gets easier.” 

“I know.”

He was desperate for a subject change. He didn’t want her to be sad, and he definitely didn’t want to relive his own shitty childhood. Luckily, just as he was about to offer her a snack, she spoke again.

“You know something?”

“Wh-what?”

She turned to him, peering out of her little blanket cocoon.

“You have really pretty eyelashes.”

“What the fuck? You’re still drunk, aren’t you?” He was laughing as he spoke, partially from the relief of the subject change, partially from the suddenness of her remark.

“No, it’s true!” She insisted, reaching out from her blanket to touch his eyelashes.

“Hey, you’re gonna poke my fuckin’ eye out! Hands to yourself, brat.”

“Noo, listen, I just wanna feel them – they look like feathers!”

In his struggle to bat her hands away, she one-upped him and lunged forward, blanket forgotten. She ended up above him, and she cupped his cheeks with her small, warm palms.

“You’re really … beautiful.” She spoke in a hushed tone, and her eyes were wide with awe. 

“And you’re drunk.” He laughed nervously, trying to diffuse the situation by sitting up.

She still didn’t budge.

“No, I mean it! You’re so pretty. Your eyes… your entire face, really. I bet greek writers could spend daaaaaays on poems about people like you.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re fucking drunk. Do you want me to get you some water, or –“

“No, I want to hug you.” She pouted, shaking off his offer.

“H-hug me? Why?” He asked dumbly.

“Because, you look warm and your comfy and I wanna hug you.”

“I – uh… I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“It’s just a hug, silly. What harm can one hug do?”

“Eugh, fine, come here, you loser.” He gave up, because really, what harm could one hug do?

Hinami’s face split into a bright, drunken grin, and she turned away from him. He was confused for a minute, thinking she was just joking about the hug, until she grabbed the blanket. She threw her arms around him, bring the blanket with her, until they were both wrapped up and snug. He immediately regretted telling her it was okay to hug him. She was too close, too warm…. Too pretty. Even with her large, drunken eyes and silly remarks, she was killing him. He started saying his prayers when she buried her face into the crook of his neck and her hands found purchase in his hair. His eyes almost rolled into the back of his head when she tugged it.

“Hinami, I don’t –“ He breathed, trying to get her to pull back a little.

“Mm, so warm.” She delighted, wrapping her arms around him more tightly. “You’re like a teddy bear.”

“Y-yeah, hey, do you want to maybe pick a different movie or,” He trailed off, not really knowing what to offer, brain addled by her closeness.

She pulled back, and just as he was about to rejoice in relief, her face was right in front of his, their noses almost touching.

“Ayato, have you ever kissed a girl before?”

“I – Uh... I mean, yes…” He stammered, trying not to think about how kissing was like an innocent sing-a-long compared to some of the shit he'd done.

“I’ve never kissed a boy before…”

That didn’t really surprise him, the girl was so innocent, he was surprised she even knew what kissing was.

“It’s – it’s not that g-great,” He lied through his teeth, trying with all his might not to just close the distance and show her what it was like for himself.

“I’ve heard it’s good. My friends all said it was good… Your lips look really soft.” 

“H-Hinami, I –“

“Can I kiss you?”


	10. Aftermath

“Can I kiss you?”

 

In Ayato’s mind, a storm surges, and in his body an electric-based fire rips through his limbs. There she was, pink-faced and wide-eyed, awaiting an answer to a question she wouldn’t remember asking in the morning. Ayato balls his hands into fists and swallows thickly before he responds.

“Hinami, you’re drunk.”

“I may be a little drunk but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to kiss you.” She answered reasonably, tone even and words unslurred. “Can I?”

“That’s just the alcohol talking –“

“Ayato… do you not want to kiss me?” She cut him off, and his alert system went off when he heard tears in her voice.

“That’s not – you’re not getting the point –“

“Then you DO want to kiss me.” She stated triumphantly, any trace of tears or sadness melting away within milliseconds. “I don’t see what the big deal is, you’ve kissed other girls before, why not me?”

“Because, you’re …” He trailed off, unable to find a good enough word for what he wanted to say.

Because you’re too innocent. Too untainted. Too good. Too good for him.

“Because… I’m?” She prompted, tilting her head to the side. 

He didn’t understand how someone could get him so flustered so easily. He wasn’t normally like that, more often than not, he was the one that flustered others. The handful of girls he’d slept with all fell for his charms, rather his casual nonchalant arrogance that somehow drew them in. It was never the other way around. He was hardly phased even when having sex with those other girls, so how was it that she managed to reduce him to a black hole of words just by speaking to him?

Apparently, he was taking far too long to answer for her liking, so she took things into her own hands. While he was caught off guard, she lightly placed her hands on his shoulders. 

“Ayato…” She murmured, spurred on by her drunken confidence. “Be still…”

He felt his entire body seize as he sensed her face drawing nearer to his. The tips of their noses were almost touching when she locked eyes with him. Her beautiful honey eyes were framed with thick, dark lashes that seemed to sweep the tops of her cheeks like feather dusters. She held his gaze, unrelenting with her advances. He felt her legs graze against his and he could feel the plane he’d been trying to navigate flawlessly for the past few moments start to crash with the contact of their bodies. 

She was so close that he could smell the faint scent of coconut on her breath, and while it wasn’t the most intoxicating thing in the world, she drew him in. She didn’t even understand how badly he wanted to kiss her - - how that very thought occupied his mind long before it even crossed hers. From the first moment they spoke, he was interested, and it went far beyond anything he’d ever felt before. It terrified him. 

“Hinami, this isn’t a good idea.” He repeated, and he hardly felt like he was actually saying anything at all, more like a copy of him floating above the scene and watching it all unfold. 

“I love it when you say my name…” She admitted, and even though the way she meant it was pure, he couldn’t stop the waving onslaught of less than appropriate thoughts pulsating in his disgusting mind.

“D-Don’t say things like that.” He replied dumbly, torn between closing the mediocre distance between their lips and pushing her away.

She solved that problem really quickly for him. Their noses bumped, but the small pain from the collision was on the backburner of his mind, because her lips were almost on his. A mere millimeter of space separated them, and Hinami was confused.

“Wh-“ She mumbled.

“You don’t want this.” He said, and his voice shook with every syllable. “You don’t want to do this with someone like me, especially right now.”

“I – I want to kiss you.” She protested, eyes once again starting to swim with the nascent form of tears. 

“Can I make you a deal?” He asked softly, slipping one of his trembling hands from its position on her shoulder up to the juncture where her neck met her jaw. 

She nodded, the action similar to that of a small child told to behave. She nuzzled against his hand, and he tried to fight how lightheaded it made him feel.

“If you want to kiss me, then ask me again tomorrow. If you still want to kiss me tomorrow… then you can kiss me.”

“But I want you to kiss me now!” 

She was suddenly met with the calloused skin of his index finger against her slightly chapped lips. 

“Here… I’ll kiss you. Just keep quiet.”

Hinami grinned and puckered her lips when he pulled his finger away. She was so cute and so trusting and so eager – a pang throbbed in his chest and he wished desperately that she was sober. Hinami stayed put for a second, awaiting the feeling of his kiss against her lips, but that feeling never came. Instead, she felt a slightly wet, warm sensation on her cheek, and it took a moment for her addled brain to process the fact that he was kissing her. 

His lips were gone before she got a chance to correct him on what she meant, and before she could complain, she felt his strong arms envelope her. He took advantage of the situation because he knew the likelihood of the chance coming again was soon, hugging her closely to his chest. The scent of alcohol and desperation on both ends lingered, and he felt awful even though he’d done the right thing.

“Ayato?” Her voice came muffled.

“What?”

The most terrifying words he could possibly hear were the very words that came from her mouth next.

“I like you. I like you a lot. I kind of wish you liked me back.”

 

~

Pain. Teeth-clenching, ear-splitting pain was the first thing Hinami woke up to as she sat bolt upright in bed, not a clue where she was. She snapped her head back and forth, surveying the unfamiliar and slightly untidy room. Immediate panic was the next thing she felt. She scrambled around, forcing the blankets covering her small body to the foot of the strange bed and nearly falling from the edge in her effort to gain her footing.

She noticed that she was still in the clothing she wore the day before, a good sign, and it eased some of the terror shawshanking through her body. She attempted to walk, and with every step, the throbbing pain in her head ached just a bit more. 

“Hinami?”

She froze. Did she? No, she couldn’t have… She didn’t have much time to think further about it, because within two split seconds of trying to decide what to do, a sharp knock came at the door.

“You can open up if you’re decent, you’re probably really confused. I can explain.”

“Why was I in your bed?” She found herself asking, not bothering to conceal the panic in her voice.

“Nothing happened. I promise you. Please, come out so we can talk?”

Hinami hesitantly made her way to the door and opened it to see Ayato, fully dressed and carrying two mugs of steaming, inviting coffee. 

“Come on, sleepy. Don’t worry, I can explain.”

 

~

 

The coffee in Hinami’s hands proved to be an object of her utmost fixation, as she could barely look Ayato in the eyes. 

“Hinami. Look at me.” 

She bit her lip and slowly met his gaze.

“Nothing happened. You had a little too much to drink, I didn’t feel comfortable walking with you when it was so late at night, so I let you have my bed. I slept on the couch. I remember every single thing that happened and I can promise you that I didn’t do anything sketchy. Do you believe me?”

“I –“ She began, but cut herself off to take a sip of the (somewhat stronger) coffee that Ayato brewed for her. “I’m not… I’m not scared of anything you did, I just don’t know what I did. Did I – Did I do anything weird? I didn’t embarrass myself, did I?”

Ayato laughed.

“That’s what you’re worried about?”

“I – I know you wouldn’t try to take – ad-adantage of m-me or anything I just –“

“Woah, woah, slow down a little. What do you think you did?”

“I – I don’t remember.”

Hinami winced a little at the sharp sound of Ayato setting his cup down on the table. She winced again when she felt his fingertips graze her hand. She looked up, eyes gleaming with worry, and he smiled to reassure her. He held her coffee-free hand and slipped his pinky in with hers.

“I pinky promise you that you didn’t do anything worth being embarrassed about. You did get a little giggly, though.”

“Wh-what did I say?” She asked, voice rising in tone with her worry.

“Shh, relax.” He soothed. “You talked about your parents for a bit, how you were sad. You talked about how you never kissed a boy before, too.”

That particular memory was difficult for Ayato to bring up, because he still was nowhere within the realms of okay after that moment. 

“Oh, no.” She mumbled. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No worries, no worries. I mean, I figured you hadn’t.” He grinned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She huffed, closely resembling an offended toddler.

“I didn’t mean that – I just meant that – you’re very… innocent? I kind of guessed.”

“I didn’t… try to do anything weird, did I?”

“No.” He said immediately, lying through his teeth. “You didn’t. You were really happy and cute. You just got tired so I put you to sleep in my bed. Don’t worry, the sheets were clean and I slept on the couch. I swear, nothing happened. I was totally sober. I was just taking care of you, you were fine. It was really fun.”

“You’re not… You’re not irritated with me, are you?”

His heart broke when she looked up at him and he could see the doubt on her face. 

“No, no fucking way! No, I was the one that asked you to drink in the first place. I’m just glad your first experience happened with me than at a party. You’re such a lightweight.” He teased, trying to take some tension out of the moment. “It’s gonna take a hell of a lot more than acting like a cute drunk girl to get rid of me.”

She hated that her heart skipped a beat when he called her cute.

“Now,” He switched the subject. “Do you have a headache?”

She frowned when she was reminded of the dull ache in her noggin and nodded.

“Here.” He said immediately, turning to the coffee table to pick up a small plastic cup with a couple of aspirin in it. “Take them. Today, you’re relaxing. I mean, you don’t have to stay here if you’d prefer to go to your dorm, I know you’re probably upset with me for –“

“I can stay?” She asked brightly, taking the pills from him and tipping the contents into her open palm. 

“I mean… yeah, I’d like that a lot? I dunno, I just figured you’d be pissed at me because you woke up at my apartment –“

“Ayato, I trust you.” She spoke firmly, like she really meant it. “I won’t lie… I don’t like the idea of waking up at another person’s house, especially when I don’t know them very well, but… I trust you.”

“Hey, you didn’t want up at a house, you are in an apartment if that makes you feel any better.” He half-heartedly joked, handing her a water bottle to wash the aspirin down with.  
It worked, he managed to get a smile out of her.

“There’s that smile. Now, are you hungry?”

“Starving.” She admitted.

“Pancakes. Pancakes it is.”

“You’re the best.” She groaned, ecstatic with the idea of pancakes when her stomach was empty and her head was killing her.

“You sit down, I’ll do the honors. Pam will provide us with the best pancakes ever.”

“Do you name all of your kitchen appliances?”

“Not all of them. The trash bin is still looking for a name to suit him. If you’re lucky, I might let you name him.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

He laughed and stood to whip up the breakfast, and he tried not to hate himself too much for keeping the kiss part from her. He tried not to hate himself too much for wishing she actually did kiss him.


	11. Floral Fixations

Conversations are a funny thing due to the variations each conversation can have. The people included in those conversations play a huge part of where they go, whether or not they can live or die in the wake of their ignition. Some people just aren’t meant to get on, and that’s just that, but others can spend an entire twenty minutes discussing different names for various kitchen objects, like trash cans. Some can become captivated by others and marvel in their ability to keep focus for so long, as if they’re the center of the universe and their gravity commands all attention.

Conversations can be happy, they can be sad – they can be filled with complete longing and desperation or carry dangerous undertones in synchronizations with words and phrases and ultimately – conversations are interpreted differently by the people involved.

So when Ayato catches a glimpse of Hinami flipping her hair, tossing the honey colored locks from her face carelessly with a nimble flick of her fingers, he can’t help but wonder if she’s feeling the same things as he is. He can’t help but wonder what goes on in that interesting mind of hers, and he can’t help but wish that she remembered the kiss attempt. He vaguely remembered his promise to her – that if she still felt the same way and wanted to kiss him when she was sober, he’d happily oblige. Realistically, he knew that would never happen. She was too far gone and he was far too hopeful, either way, things would have escalated too quickly and he wasn’t even sure she felt anything for him other than casual platonic joy.

Mutually, Hinami wondered things about him, mostly when he was looking at the television, face turned and a mask of casual indifference; a mask of an arrogance that didn’t reach his core. To say Hinami was good at observing people would be something of an understatement. Even since childhood she’d always been relatively good at gauging a person by the read of their face or choice of actions – she could tell what people liked and disliked, what they wanted just from a few conversations and that carried into adulthood with something of a vengeance. While being dense, rather naïve, when it came to romantic intentions and the like, she prided herself on being able to tell what was on a person’s mind and whether or not they were telling her the truth.  
Ayato wasn’t telling her the truth.

She’d more or less guessed that he wasn’t spilling everything from the previous drunken night to spare her fragile feelings, and to some degree she respected it and was relieved, but on another wavelength, she resented him for it. She wanted to know, she wanted to know what she’d said, what she’d done to make him the way he was being with her the next day. And while he thought he had her fooled, thought his cards were being carefully played, she saw right through his charade. Rather than demand an explanation and call him out, she went along with it. Mostly because she ventured the guess that he was just as uncomfortable as she was and didn’t know how to react in that kind of situation.   
Either way, neither one of them were prepared to have the discussion.

~

 

The day rolled on, and as promised, plates of pancakes were made and devoured – they weren’t half bad, either. Ayato wasn’t the esteemed, world class chef he proclaimed the title of, but for some reason the company made the food seem like it was more glamorous than what it was – boxed pancakes that had been sitting in a cupboard too close to an expiration date for comfort. It kind of fit their dynamic, though. Cheap food prepared on a cheap stove, but enjoyed nonetheless and devoured as quickly as the fluff discs reached their plates. Hinami even asked for seconds. Ayato, unsurprisingly, was a little too eager to satisfy that need.

After a few re-runs of television shows both of them had seen, Hinami looked at the clock. Being a generally anxious person from birth, the fact that it was so late in the day made her uneasy. She wondered a little too often if she was overstaying her welcome – boring Ayato into complacency and to a point where he felt he had to be polite to her. She then realized that he wasn’t the nicest of people, at least to others, and that eased her mind a bit, but she was still wary.

“Hey,” She muttered, tapping on his shoulder. 

The action was small and harmless, but still caught him off guard. A shiver went through his body and he coughed to cover a little yelp he was suppressing.

“Y-Yeah?”

Hinami stretched, lifting her arms high above her head and a small noise of comfort escaped her lips. Ayato hated his life.

“D’you think I should get going? I mean, I’ve already jeapordized your house – I’m pretty sure I’ve been here for over 24 hours…”

“First of all – like I said – Apartment, not house. Don’t worry. Second of all, I wasn’t hopping up to get you to leave, now was I? Didn’t I say that I like spending time with you?”

“I know, I just –“

Ayato sighed.

“Look, I get it. I know that you worry about that kind of stuff. I’m not saying I get it, but whenever you need reassurance that you’re not bothering me, I’ll give it to you without question. Okay? I’m not trying to keep you trapped here, you’re free to leave whenever, but as long as neither of us have class or anything time consuming to do, I don’t see a reason for you to leave. I mean… you know, as long as you like spending time with me too.”

He was rambling, he realized that. Hinami hid her smile behind her palm.

“Are you sure?”

“More than sure. One hundred percent certain. A thousand percent certain. If I was any more certain I’d probably get a certificate. Okay, not funny, but you get what I mean, right?”  
Hinami nodded, eyes shifting to the ground from the embarrassment at being paranoid. She couldn’t help that she felt like she was a burden, she just did. Ayato got that. He comprehended it completely. He wanted to reach over and shake her to get rid of the doubt, but he knew she wasn’t being self-deprecating or guilt-tripped.  
“HEY!” Ayato said suddenly, resulting in a jolt from Hinami.

“W-What?”

“I have an idea. How do you feel about getting out of the apartment and going to do something? There’s this really fun place I know, and I think you’ll like it a lot. I don’t really bring people there when I go, at least, I don’t really like showing it to other people because it’s kinda private, but do you want to come?”

He was getting excited, she could sense. At the mention of ‘private’ her heart skipped a beat, and she felt a little dizzy. He wanted to share something private with her?

“Y-Yeah, sure, I want to go. Where is it?”

“Nope!” He cut her off before she could press more. “It’s a secret, kid.”

“I didn’t bring any –“

“Clothes? I have an entire closetful of clean shirts and stuff. I mean, they’ll hang off of you, but you brought your jeans and it shouldn’t be too bad. I mean, if you want to stop by your dorm to get other things, we can, I don’t mind, but if –“

She laughed, the bell like peal ringing in his ears and sending his mind to funny, dangerous places.

“As long as you don’t mind me borrowing clothes…”

Ayato stood up, stretched, and pointed in the direction of his room. 

“You know where it is, kid. I gotta find my stash of spending money so we can stop by the convenience store on the way. We have an adventure to go on. Change. Hurry. Or I may leave without you.”

 

~

 

Half an hour and multiple arguments about the best kind of chips later (Ayato opted for plan while Hinami wanted pickle flavoured), they set off, bags laden with treats and sodas they’d never be able to drink by themselves.

“It’s kind of a hike, but the walk there isn’t too bad. We’ve got a good fifteen minutes ahead of us. You cool with that?” He directed towards her, tilting his head in her direction.

That was a mistake, because he caught her adjusting his hoodie strings to secure it more tightly around her neck. The sight of her in his clothes was somehow the cutest and sexiest thing he’d ever seen, and Hinami was not a person he would ever call ‘sexy’, at least based off of first appearances. Just the way the fabric hung off her tiny frame, knowing that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath aside from undergarments – he mentally cringed at how gross he was – he felt like he was in middle school again. Always finding the weirdest things to be turned on by. And for some reason, little, delicate, beautiful Hinami in Ayato’s old, faded blue hoodie was a sight he wanted to burn into his memory and erase altogether.

“Yeah!” She chirped, awakening him from his brief relapse into adolescent hell. “Sounds good to me. Can I have a soda?”

He laughed, reached in one of the bags and tossed it to her. She scrambled to catch it – Ayato felt like an asshole for almost laughing – and in the end, her brave attempts to rescue the flying bottle were fruitless. It rolled on the ground, shaken up, but otherwise unscathed. Hinami did her best to look angry and glared at him, but the tenacity she’d intended didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Hey! You should have warned me or given me a heads up, jerk.”

“Life doesn’t always come with warning signs, kid. Look sharp.” He remarked, bending to rescue the soda for her. “It’ll be fine.”

“Jerk.” She repeated.

“Did I disagree the first time?” He grinned, practically permeating arrogance, and Hinami’s lips quivered.

She couldn’t fight a smile and ended up letting it cross her face, because repressing a grin around him was too much work. For some reason, this typical arrogant boy sent her heart fluttering, and for whatever reason, she found it funny and endearing. 

Without thinking, without recalling what had happened a mere few seconds prior, Hinami twisted the cap to the soda bottle, and after that, everything was in slow motion. Ayato’s eyes widened when he saw her from the corner of his eye, and before he could stop it and save her, it was too late. Brown liquid erupted, a volcanic explosion of sticky proportions. The liquid flew in every single direction, drenching all of Hinami’s front and bits of her hair and catching Ayato in the face. Hinami dropped the bottle in shock, not even thinking about the situation and reacting instinctively. The silence after everything settled was like the eye of the hurricane, calm and soothing in the wake of disaster.

“Hinami.”

“… don’t say a word.”

“Hinami.”

“No, don’t speak.” She put her hand on his chest. 

“… Hinami.”

“Okay, look –“

They both caught each other’s eyes and immediately dissolved into fits of laughter. Despite the discomfort of being covered in manic soda, Hinami could laugh. 

“Why does this always happen to my clothes?” Ayato cut through after he’d managed to catch his breath, and then they started laughing all over again as the realization dawned in Hinami’s eyes.

It took a few moments for them to settle down, and luckily for them, no one was around to witness the tragic yet somewhat hilarious event. 

“Well. How do you feel?” He asked, coughing after he spoke to ease some of the discomfort from the constant outburst of laughter before.

“Um… embarrassed? And upset, God, I do always ruin your clothes, don’t I? I promise I’ll wash it, I promise – I’m so sorry, I’m really really sorry – “

“I’m not worried about it.” He shrugged it off and cut off her apologies. “It can be washed, and it’s not a huge deal. But –“

He leaned forward, face a few inches from hers, and brushed a few pearls of sticky soda from her delicate cheeks.

“Sorry, that was bothering me.”

He lingered for a moment, and as if a gust of cold wind came, they both froze, a little shaken up. Ayato pulled back, saving them both a few moments of awkward silence, and patted the top of her head in a somewhat father-like manner.

“It’s fine.”

And it was. He wasn’t worried about the hoodie, he wasn’t worried about the embarrassment, what he was fixated on was the fact that if she wanted to wash it, it would be an excuse for him to see her again. She’d eventually have to meet up with him to give it back, and even though he knew she’d be happy to see him in other, non-soda disaster circumstances, it put hope in his chest and a fire in his throat.

They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, and a few times they bumped into one another. Hinami at first on accident, then Ayato right back – of course, on purpose. It was something of a game, and that entertained them for a couple minutes until Ayato stopped.

“There!” He pointed, tapping her shoulder with the non-pointing hand and smiled.

“Arboretum?” Hinami asked, tilting her head to the side to read the sign properly.

“Yeah, do you know what that is?” He asked.

She flushed.

“I – Y-yeah, I read books, but I didn’t know there was one here… it’s so hidden.”

It was hidden, that much she was right about. The trees in front of the sign were droppy and low, leaves masking a lot of the letters to the sign, making it difficult to read despite the clear legibility. 

“The entrance is just that way, here –“

Ayato grabbed her hand without thinking of the outcome, and Hinami relaxed into the grip, lacing her fingers with his and sending his heart pulsating six ways into the next week. They didn’t call attention to the action, deciding that it was fine as was, and anything too obvious remarking on it would make a perfectly fine situation turn awkward. 

Ayato opened the gate with his free hand, and Hinami gasped.

“It’s –“ She struggled to find the proper wording to describe what she was feeling and seeing.

“That’s not even the half of it, sweetheart.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first lengthy Tokyo Ghoul fanfiction that I plan on updating on a weekly basis. This is also one of my favorite pairings for the series, and I love them dearly. There will be eventual smut, but it won't be a key component to the story, and it will not come until later on, and then I will likely bump up the rating. I'd like to thank my friend Katy for helping me come up with a title for this, and everyone from Tumblr who encouraged me to actually post it. Let me know what you guys think!


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